Yemtsov wows Yass Music Club

On Sunday December 3, the Crisp Galleries hosted the Yass Music Club for its annual Christmas concert.

This year, the star of the concert was Alexey Yemtsov, a world renowned concert pianist and music teacher.

Mr Yemtsov played a collection of his favourite pieces, which included music from Bach, Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi, Chopin, and Haydn, among others.

Roughly 115 people attended, according to Music Club President and local artist Peter Crisp, and were thrilled at the quality of music and the setting in which it took place.

“It was very well attended, I’d say … we had about 115 people,” Mr Crisp said.

“It was a perfect afternoon … and Alexey gave a very convincing performance on the Stuart and Sons piano.”

The piano which Mr Yemtsov played is unique for its 102 keys, and it is one of only five in the world.

On it, Mr Yemtsov also played Romeo and Juliet before parting Opera 75, part 10 and Sonata Number 6, Opera 82, which were both composed by the legendary Sergei Prokofiev.

“The Prokofiev is an extroardinary work … I think some people may have found it quite challenging because it is such a discorded [piece], but there’s a lot that goes on in Prokofiev’s music,” Mr Crisp said.

The concert was made more poignant due to the fact that Mr Yemtsov did not have much time to fit it in his schedule, but he made room for it due to his longstanding friendship with Mr Crisp.

Mr Yemtsov’s schedule was restricted, said Mr Crisp, by his obligation to his students at Cranbrook School in Sydney whose reports had to be finished.

In addition to his scholarly duties, Mr Yemtsov is also a new father, and during the concert interval he had to rush back to help his wife take care of the baby.

For this, Mr Crisp was very grateful to Mr Yemtsov for the generous performance.

However, Mr Crisp also said the the young pianist seemed excited about the prospect of performing.

“As soon as I had invited him to be here, within 24 hours he had actually given us that program,” Mr Crisp said.

Mr Crisp said the rest of the club was excited to see the turnout from locals to see Mr Yemtsov play.

By his estimation, at least half of the attendees were not members of the Music Club, meaning that interest in classical music is still thriving in the region.

“We gained new membership [following the concert], which was a key reason [for them to hold it],” Mr Crisp said.